Gov. Pat McCrory
American Renewal Project founder David Lane – Image: www.americanrenewalproject.org
News reports this morning indicate that Gov. Pat McCrory is distancing himself from a full page ad that ran in yesterday’s Charlotte Observer in which the Governor was quoted as inviting people to a September 26 event in Charlotte sponsored by a far right, conservative Christian group known as the American Renewal Project. The ad shows a picture of the Governor with the words: “Come Join me in a time of worship, prayer, fasting and repentance.”
This is from McClatchy and the Winston-Salem Journal:
“The full page ad on Monday touted The Response, an event scheduled for Sept. 26.
‘Come Join Me in a time of worship, prayer, fasting and repentance,’ the ad says over McCrory’s name and beside a picture of the governor. It goes on to say the Response is ‘to call on Jesus on behalf of America that he might hear our cry and heal our land.’
In a statement, McCrory spokesman Graham Wilson said the governor had been invited to the event and agreed to speak.
A representative for the Charlotte event said the ad may have been poorly worded.”
Laying aside the questions surrounding the ad itself, however, one can’t help but wonder what the Governor was thinking when he agreed to speak at an event for such a group. As the good people at People for the American Way reported earlier this year in a lengthy post, the head of the American Renewal Project, a guy named David Lane, is a far right religious activist who wants to make the United States a “Christian nation.” Here are some excerpts:
“David Lane promotes a vision of America as a nation founded by and for Christians; denounces court rulings upholding church-state separation; calls for Christianity to be established as America’s official religion with the Bible as a primary textbook in public schools; vehemently opposes legal equality for LGBT people; and demands the impeachment of judges who rule in favor of allowing same-sex couples to be legally married.”
And this:
“In Lane’s worldview, there are essentially no gray areas: America will either be a Christian nation or a pagan nation and there will be no peace until we decide which. Judges who uphold the right of same-sex couples to marry must be impeached. The Supreme Court’s rulings upholding the separation of church and state have imposed a destructive secularism on America and must be reversed. Secularism and homosexuality are twin evils from which America must be rescued. This quote gives a pretty good summary of Lane’s worldview:
Who will wage war for the Soul of America and trust the living God to deliver the pagan gods into our hands and restore America to her Judeo-Christian heritage and re-establish a Christian culture?…
As to the future of America – and the collapse of this once-Christian nation – Christians must not only be allowed to have opinions, but politically, Christians must be retrained to war for the Soul of America and quit believing the fabricated whopper of the ‘Separation of Church and State,” the lie repeated ad nauseum by the left and liberals to keep Christian America – the moral majority – from imposing moral government on pagan public schools, pagan higher learning, and pagan media….
Christian America is in ruins…
You ask, ‘What is our goal?’ To wage war to restore America to our Judeo-Christian heritage with all of our might and strength that God will give us. You ask, ‘what is our aim?’ One word only: victory, in spite of all intimidation and terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory, America will ultimately collapse.”
The post concludes with a “David Lane Primer” that features all sorts of utterly outrageous quotes from Lane, including:
- Argued that “homosexuals praying at the Inauguration” of President Obama in 2013 will provoke God’s wrath in the form of “car bombs in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Des Moines, Iowa.”
- Feared that God might destroy the U.S. just as he punished Nazi Germany: “If we get judgment like Nazi Germany, I’m assuming we go to rebel, and God says ‘I’m done.’”
- Urged conservative Christians to prepare for martyrdom in their fight to “save the nation from the pagan onslaught imposing homosexual marriage [and] homosexual scouts.”
The bottom line: Let’s hope McCrory continues to distance himself from these folks by completely excusing himself from the September 26 event. Unfortunately, as Greg Lacour at Charlotte Magazine notes, the Guv may well know exactly what it is he’s trying to do by attending such an event.
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